


Come Talk To Me

by galacticmistake



Series: Strange Happenings in South Park (Whumptober 2020) [7]
Category: South Park
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Homophobic Language, Self-Harm, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, alluded gender dysphoria, child labor mention, emotional breakdown, mention of divorce, toxic household mention, toxic parent mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26995018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticmistake/pseuds/galacticmistake
Summary: Stan has a bad vibe all morning, and when Kenny is unusually quiet and distant, he tries to figure out why.(Whumptober Day 7: Support)All of the main 4 characters are aged up to 16 for a high school setting.
Relationships: Kyle Broflovski & Stan Marsh, Stan Marsh & Kenny McCormick
Series: Strange Happenings in South Park (Whumptober 2020) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951258
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Come Talk To Me

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Self-harm, homophobic slur, emotional breakdown, child labor mention, toxic household mention, toxic parent mention, alluded gender dysphoria, mention of divorce

The next day, Stan stood at the bus stop, mindlessly scrolling on his Facebook feed and liking any photos of cute dogs he saw. The whole time, in the back of his mind, there was this unsettling feeling that something was wrong with one of his friends. 

“Hmm… I’ll check in with everyone when they arrive. Hopefully it’ll clear everything up.” He whispered to himself, still mindlessly scrolling and liking.

Cartman showed up, mumbling some string of profanities, racial slurs, and other unspeakable horrors.

“Hey, fatass, what’s your problem?”

“Mom won’t get me that new XBOX game.”

“Is it because of your 10 days in ISS? Heard about that, by the way.”

“HEY! SHUT UP! Yeah, partially, but she said it’s also because of the whole collar thing last week.”

“Ah.”

Kyle walked up next, pinching at the palms of his hands.

“Hey, Kyle. Stressed?”

“Yeah… I’m getting a shit ton of homework and very little time to do it. And I have so much of it that I can’t study for any tests.”

“Wanna come over and study? I know we’re not in the same classes, but I feel like you need the company.”

“...that sounds nice. Thanks, Stan. how does 3:30 sound?”

“3:30 works.”

Stan sighed in relief, and then he noticed that the vibe hadn't completely gone away, which confused him quite a bit.

Kenny was the last to show up to the bus stop, and the way he rubbed his eyes told Stan that last night was rough.

But he had something else on his mind.

“Dude, where the hell were you last night?” Stan yelled in frustration.

“Work. Why?” Kenny responded, jaded and exhausted.

“You didn’t answer any of my calls last night. I just wanted to check up on you and Karen.”

“Karen’s fine.”

“And you?”

There was a thick silence between the two, and Kenny turned his head away to avoid having to answer Stan’s question.

The bus pulled up mere seconds later, and the boys all piled in the very back, just in case Cartman said more stupid shit. Kenny took the right window seat, gazing out into the outside as the surroundings all blurred together. 

For the first time in a long while, the bus was completely silent.

* * *

When lunch finally came around, Stan got the bad vibe again, and just like before, he wasn’t too sure where it was coming from. 

His morning was smooth enough: classes went by without a hitch, no major fights, relatively less homework than the days before. 

However, by lunch, that feeling struck again, and he had to come up with an excuse to check it out.

“Hey, I’ll join y’all in a bit. Saw something in the library that I wanted to check out.”

Before Kyle could respond, Stan took off. 

About 2 minutes into his excursion, he stopped by the men’s restroom. He cautiously opened the door and tip-toed his way to where he felt he needed to be.

Someone was crying in one of the bathroom stalls.

Stan knocked on the door, only to find the door locked and Kenny curled up in the right corner, crying uncontrollably.

For one, Stan was surprised. Kenny had been abnormally quiet and withdrawn all day, and now this? There had to be some sort of trigger.

Stan sat by Kenny after locking the stall.

“Hey… talk to me, what’s wrong?”

Kenny managed to stop a little bit.

“Everything’s just… crumbling.” He hiccuped out.

“What do you mean?”

Kenny sighed.

“It’s a living hell. My family is falling apart at the seams, and I’m scared that if they do divorce, Karen and I will have to be in Stuart’s care, which won’t be good for us. He’s a lazy bum and can’t be bothered to work, so I’ve been looking for a 2nd job since City Wok only pays enough to feed Karen and hold her over. I’m fucking living paycheck to paycheck to care for my sister. Kevin works, but he just takes care of bills. And mom’s trying her best to look for work. I don;t blame her, and I know it’s beating her down. And I’m scared for Karen and my mom. It’s obviously not safe for them, and Stuart is just dragging everyone down with him. On top of that, I’m struggling to keep up in school, and I just… feel so out of place compared to everyone else. I’m burning out and it’s only fucking October.”

Stan took Kenny’s head and rested it on his lap, pulling his hood down to stroke his hair.

“Don’t do that, please.”

Stan stopped with the hair, and just let Kenny rest on his lap.

“When you say you feel out of place, what do you mean?”

Kenny sighed.

“Ever since I was like… 8? I’ve just felt like this body isn’t really mine. Like, my brain is wired one way, and I’m happiest like that, but other people want to put me in a different box and expect me to act differently. Like, I got a tinted chapstick earlier in the year, and I really liked it, but I wore it around Stuart once and he called me a fag and threw it away.”

“That sucks…”

“Yeah… but because I can't pinpoint what it is exactly, there’s no way to fix it.”

There was a brief moment before Stan piped up again.

“Hey… I’ve got you… you’re safe here, you’re safe with me. And if you and Karen need anything, don’t hesitate to come to me or my family for help.”

Kenny didn’t have a response to that, and he just hugged Stan around the waist and the two stayed like that until the bell for 4th period rang.


End file.
